New late spring food plot

[johnf]

I'm getting on a new lease this year and won't be able to do anything there untill the middle of April. I'll have roughly 100 acers to myself and would like to put some small food plots on it, probibly 1/2 acer or smaller each. (that's about the size of the biggest clearings) Most of it will be wooded and I can't cut any trees down, but can clear underbrush.

The question is, what can I plan that late in the year that would grow and attract deer for the following fall season?

Should I plant something different in each plot?

Should I replant the plots with something else in the fall?

Anything I've left out would be appricieated.

I do have a tripod feeder too, is it too early to put that out and get them used to it, or would I just be wasting food/$$?

[wtnhunt]

Re: New late spring food plot

Todd will give you some great advice on this I am sure. I would tend to stay away from any clovers in the spring, but would look into some peas or other types of annuals for my spring plots. In my experience clovers do better planted in the fall with less weed growth. Lab lab and lab lab plus here the suggested planting is May-June, that is all I will be planting this spring. So that would probably be a good choice.

You might check out seedland.com and just browse the wildlife seeds there to kind of get an idea of what seeds you may be intertested in. I would most likely plant a variety, not sure what, think that would depend on what you have around.

Would probably plant a perenial clover mix such as the hamannfarms grower mix in the fall in at least one of my plots.

[AaronS]

Re: New late spring food plot

If I were to plant in spring I would follow the planting regimen that I read in mdgc's post from last month. I believe it is what dogdoc used on his place. Plant roundup ready soybeans in the spring thus allowing you to spray the plots with roundup whenever needed over the summer, effectively killing all weeds. This will give you a weed free area to planty a perennial fall plot (like something from Hamann Farms, Tecomate, Whitetail Institute, etc.).

[dogdoc]

Re: New late spring food plot

johnf---What I would recommend doing is since these are smaller plots you stand a really good chance of them getting overbrowsed---especially with warm season annuals like cowpeas or soybeans. What I would really concentrate on during the late spring and summer is proper plot preperation. Around June 1st I would spray all the plots with round-up(generic roundup is available and much cheaper)--wait about 3 weeks then disc all the areas you want to plant. This will bury all the dormant seeds sitting on top of the soil. Then about 3 to 4 weeks later spray the plots again with roundup--then 2 weeks later spot spray anything that is still green. Now you are at the first of August. Then around the last weekend of August to the first of september start planting. For smaller plots like that clover works great---it handles heavy browsing pressure and with the early prep work you should easily get 3 to 5 years with one planting. My favorite fall planting is a mix made by Hamann Farms but their are several good perennial mixes or you can even make your own. Now most of your perennial legumes are slow to get established so you will want to plant a quick annual with the clover to give your plots an immediate attraction for hunting this fall. I like to plant a mixture of wheat and oats. The oats will pop up the quickest and provide immediate attraction but will die at the first good freeze. The wheat will stay green all winter. The following spring you can then mow the wheat and then the clover will really start taking off.

If you really want to plant something this spring then I would do what INBowhunter suggested--plant roundup ready soybeans--that way you can still spray with roundup all summer to kill off your weeds.

good luck and let me know if you have anymore questions.

todd